Taking a Different Path

Hi guys,

I realise that I haven't posted for quite a while, but it's for good reason. Work, some serious action related to my books, my friends and writing circle, etc.

But I would like to talk about something that's been on the back of my mind for a while, and it's that my plans for my career in writing has taken a slight tilt.

Originally, I envisoned myself working on a sequel straight after my short story collection. That was up to late last year, I think.

But a lot had happened, is still happening, and things have changed. Recently, my novel had gained much attention. It was featured on Bookbub, and so gained almost 20,000 free eyeballs, a substantial amount of eyeballs who paid for my book, and unfortunately, some bad reviews for one problem or another.

The last bit had disheartened me a little, but it reinforced something that's been clear to me for more than half a year - I'm not ready to write the sequel to The Keeper of Pulau Purba just yet.

My second book has a flash fiction set in the same world as TKoPP, and a TKoPP short story will be featured in an anthology. The next natural step, I believe, are novellas. A good number of them.

The reason why I feel that I'm not ready for The Keeper of Pulau Purba sequel is not just the anxiety to do better, but that my universe hasn't been fleshed out very well yet. By the end of The Keeper of Pulau Purba, here's only 3 major characters left, one of whom is the main character. A few minor characters might be lucky enough to survive on Pulau Purba by the skin of their teeth, but that's it.

The world before and after the events of TKoPP, and outside the titular island itself hasn't even been explored. A lot of things are up in the air. Therefore, here's my re-adjusted plan:

Short Story Collection: Through the Abyssal Gates (Launch Date: 15 July 2017)

A Model Son: A Pulau Purba Short Story (Launch Date: 31 October 2017)

Pulau Purba Prequel (So yes, I'll be working on a prequel to The Keeper of Pulau Purba, a novella that will centre around a pair of marine conscripts. It will be set just before everything turns dark. It will be permanently free, possibly on multiple platforms) (Est. Launch Date: 15 January 2018)

Pulau Purba Interquels x3 (This part is major. I will be writing a series of 3 novellas set during and directly after the events of the original novel. They will all be told from wildly different perspectives. One is already set in stone: it will be told from the angle of a prepubescent Christian girl, and her path will come really close to those of some of the characters in TKoPP. I'm still deciding on the other two) (Est. Launch Date: 4-5 months intervals, so something lik 15 May/June '18,  15 September/October '18  and 15 January/February '19 respectively.)

So there you have it! As you can see, the timeframe for the development of these novels is a far cry from the estimated 18 months cycle of my original novel! Exciting things are going to happen!

But then again, you never know how things will change. My productivity has been up recently, and it can only go up even further as I quit my job for a career in freelance tutoring. You might end up seeing the Prequel by December this year, and all of the Interquels long before 2018 is over...